FIVE YEARS after China ended tycoon Stanley Ho’s monopoly on casinos in Macau, the former Portuguese colony is set to overtake Las Vegas as the world’s biggest gambling mecca, with projected revenue of $6.8 billion. (Sin City’s raking in a mere $6.6 bil.) Of course, money’s not the only measure of a city’s worth, so we at TMM are running the cities head-to-head in our Ultimate Showdown! Whose corruptive influence will reign supreme?

Signature Game: Slot machines define Las Vegas—they’re the perfect game for a nation raised on Nintendo, Cheetoh’s and instant gratification. Macau, however, has pai gow poker.
Winner: Macau.

Signature Nightclub Act: In Macau, if you’re lucky, you get to see a Hong Kong star from the ’80s warble out Canto-pop love songs. If you’re unlucky, you get a Filipino house band. And if you’re cursed, you get a ’80s Hong Kong pop star doing drunken karaoke in the hotel lounge. As for Vegas, one word: Prince. Yep, he’s setting up shop at Hotel Rio.
Winner by a mile: Vegas.

Hotels:: Everyone knows that Vegas hotels are the pinnacle of excess—after all, the canal flows inside the Venetian Hotel. But Stanley Ho and Australia’s richest man plan on building a casino underwater. James Bond would be proud.
Winner: Macau.

Hookers: Gone are the days when prostitues legally hawked their wares on the streets of Macau; now the island’s a destination and transshipment point for prostitutes from rural provinces of China, Russians, and Southeast Asians. Sexy, huh? And while the world’s oldest profession is illegal in Clark County, it’s totally legit in much of Nevada and tacitly accepted in Vegas in the form of escort services. Vegas’s working girls even rallied this summer for decriminalization and more legal protection. Hot!
Winner: Vegas.

Cuisine: Nowadays, every superchef is opening up a gastro-temple in Vegas: Tom Colicchio, Joel Robuchon, Daniel Boulud. But walk down any Macau street and you can find the ultimate culinary delight—the egg tart.
Winner: Macau.

Gangster Factor: The Jewish and Italian mafiosi who once ran Vegas as their own personal mint are long gone (cf. “Casino”), but so (mostly) are the triads who ruled Macau in its colonial days. Since 1999, Macau has been run by the Chinese Government—a tougher, more ruthless bunch of gangsters.
Winner: Macau.

Kitsch Factor: Faux-beefeaters guard Macau’s Grand Emperor Hotel, and an artificial volcano spews “electronic lava” at Fisherman’s Wharf, but Vegas has the granddaddy of all kitsch: Elvis impersonators by the legion.
Winner: Vegas (you don’t mess with the King).

Romance Factor: It’s unlikely the Department of Homeland Security will take your quickie hitch to that Macanese nightclub stripp—er, starlet—seriously, but there’s nothing they can do if you bring her over on a K-1 fiancée visa and do the deed at any of Vegas’s drive-through wedding chapels.
Winner: Vegas.

Waterworks: You’d figure that Macau, an island, would win this category hands-down over Vegas, a desert community hundreds of miles from the ocean. But Sin City’s $40 million, 4,500-light, 1,200-nozzle fountain at the Bellagio, the “Fall of Atlantis” water show at Caesar’s, and the Treasure Island waterborne spectacle with cannonfire and actual sinking ship mean that seekers of liquid entertainment in Macao may feel relatively parched.
Winner: Vegas.

High Rollers: Vegas woos celebrities and titans of industry, hoping they’ll cover their $5 million line of credit with a three-picture deal or sub-rosa stock sale. Macau knows that Asia’s corporate and governmental embezzlers are good for their losses (they carry millions in cash and gold).
Winner: Macau.

The Big Blow: In Vegas, you blow your kid’s college fund. In Macau, you blow the education budget for your province.
Winner: Macau.

Congratulations, Macau.

•